The story of Passover occurred thousands of years ago, but that doesn’t mean your Seder table needs to look like it took place in Ancient Egypt. This holiday, let’s take a cue from one of the most trendsetting designers of all time, David Hicks.

“My greatest contribution as an interior designer has been to showpeople how to use bold color mixtures,

how to use pattern … and how to mix old with new.”-David Hicks

Adding bright colorful and eye-catching elements to your Seder table will add excitement to your lavish spread and transcend your Passover seder into modernity. Give a nod to David Hicks who always embraced crisp, bold pattern and bright hues making your banquet one that even King Pharoah would say YES to!

In a nutshell, a swanee is a Syrian Jewish custom in which the bride receives gives from her fiance and future mother in law prior to the wedding. These gifts range from beautiful soaps and lingerie to fine crystal and jewelry! In recent times, brides started to do the same for their future husbands. The men’s gifts can be anything from a watch and cufflinks to a kiddush cup and other beautiful Judaica. They’re usually beautifully displayed on a table and exchanged in front of close friends and family!

I don’t know about you, but I would never want to receive a beautiful gift in 99¢ wrapping paper. I believe that the presentation is just as important as what’s inside the box! The hours of meticulously picking out, wrapping, and displaying each gift was more difficult than it looks, but it was well worth it!

For my husband’s swanee, I wanted to create a beautiful display table that also matched his personality.

So I used the following wrapping papers and color scheme:

Navy Suede - classic, handsome, masculin

Orange Textured Pebbles- bold, unique

Tuscan floral print- interesting, fun

I added rustic wood crates, pretty bows, and an organza navy stripe linen. And there you have it! A beautiful swanee display table.

Thank you Heather Nyack for your seder Pictures!
“We opted this year to move the table into the living room, as two of our guests are pregnant: Rachel Wedel Cruse, is 39 weeks, and my daughter Ashlianna Nyack, is 24 weeks with twins, and have the seder table between two couches, so the ladies could recline on the comfy couch. It made… for a much more relaxed seder not just for them, but for everyone. We also use the avacado pit option on the seder plate, instead of the lamb shank, as we are mostly vegetarian, and working towards becoming vegan. We have kids who cannot eat eggs — we let them have Kosher chocolate eggs for that portion of the seder. Finding ones that work for all the kosher/vegan/allergen issues though can be tough!”

Even though the hard boiled or roasted egg that is placed on the Passover seder plate is symbolic of mourning and destruction of the Beit Hamikdash in Jerusalem, Jewish Hostesses worldwide can still beautify their seder plates by using this unique idea from Apartment Therapy. Create your own unique Passover seder patterns that may even impress Eliyahu Hanavi!

You begin by asking your grocer for as many discarded brown onion skins they can give you. For a dozen eggs, we used about 8 cups, although it’s recommended that you have twice that for the best color, particularly if you are slow-cooking them. If the onion skins are dirty, wash them before proceeding.

Fill a large soup pot with the skins, cover with water, and bring it to a boil. You should see the color of the water change to medium brown. Then add the peppercorns, salt, and white vinegar. Turn down the heat to a simmer.

Gently lower the eggs in the water, making sure they are completely covered, and add more water if necessary. Cover the surface of the water with the oil, and then cover the pot with a lid. Let simmer, covered, until the eggs are a rich mahogany color – about an hour.

Cooked this way, the eggs have just the slightest flavor of onions, and are similar to hardboiled eggs. If you want hot eggs on your Sabbath table, you can move the pot to a preheated slow oven (about 225F) after you add the eggs. The longer cooking time will increase the onion flavor, although it will still be delicate.
Before adding the eggs, you can press a decorative leaf such as parsley, cilantro, or even a leaf from your garden to the outside. Affix the leaf with pantyhose, tied in a tight knot. Just to be safe, we would refrain from cooking these pantyhose clad eggs in the oven.

The longer you cook the eggs, the more likely they are to crack. They’ll have a spiderweb-like pattern on them, similar to Chinese tea eggs and more of the onion flavor.

It’s Thursday morning, and the Seders are behind us, the kids are in school, and all that food is in us! I must be honest, as much as I tried to eat as close to my ideals as possible, the over dose of all the extra food that my body is unaccustomed to, makes my body feel….well, simply… FAT!

One part of brain tells me, “don’t be such as party-pooper!” It’s so much fun to taste everything in sight and share in the fun with friends and family. The other side of my brain says, “get over it Sari, having control over what you eat is a direct line to how you look, and more importantly feel.” For example, I hosted the first seder to 16 family guests. I was so excited to prepare my family’s favorite dishes that I forgot to prepare something acceptable for myself! Being unprepared totally left me vulnerable. As a Jewish mom, I know taking care of others sometimes precede taking care of myself. On the converse, when I ate a lunch at a friends house, it was so easy to stay focused. I was being served, and making choices was easy, knowing that eating lightly will honor my body greatly.

In retrospect, I believe it’s a sign of maturity to enjoy all the wonderful aspects about a family holiday dinner without over doing it and tipping the scale way over to what you are comfortable with. Whew! I thought I lost the ability to “have fun”, and “let loose.” Instead, I’m simply being insightful and in tune to my needs.

Just know, that Jewish women from all over the globe are going through the same thing! We are in it together! We can share in each triumphs and help each other in time of need. Like now! We do our best…. but together we can do better!

Remember…

20- 30 minutes of walking or jogging

16 lunges

16 pushups

20 -60 second planks-3x

One important tip that’s easy to follow: up your water intake! Aim for 8-10 glasses of water. You will immediately feel less bloated. Matzahs are very dry and can clogg us up, if you know what I mean…

Here’s something to look forward to…..

After 8 days of Passover (Pesach) feasting, I will be introducing my 2nd annual “30 Day Sugar Challenge!” You are going to love this! Tell your friends and family. This challenge is for anyone and everyone who craves eating at a higher ideal.

Starting date: May 1, 2011

Ending date: June 1, 2011

Keep on the lookout for more information on how to join in and get started. But for now, enjoy your family, friends and honor your body. If not YOU…then who??

When Jamie Doueck gives me a Passover recipe, its a guaranteed winner. This tart doesn’t look like a Passover recipe, but it looks and tastes like an all year round Martha Stewart fruit tart. – For this recipe, place the rasberries or strawberries carefuly and everyone will think that you bought it!

I know everyone is so excited to get started! Yesterday, was preparation day, and everyone sent emails, questions, and had lots of anxiety. Don’t worry- everyone comes out a winner on this challenge. even if your nervous and unsure, I guarantee you will absolutely feel different about the way you view sugar when this challenge is over.

Did you tell your family and friends? The beauty of this plan is that everyone in the family can be on the same page. I don’t promote pills, drops or anything that you will not be able to withstand for a lifetime. Isn’t that refreshing?

I know everyone is looking forward to feeling great, especially as the warm weather sets in and the feel of summer approaches, but first, I must dive back to the past for a few moments.

The past:

I know Passover is behind us, but since Jewish women, meals and holidays are all intertwined into one package, its important to keep our eating experience close to the the forefront of our lives in order to achieve maximum health and wellness. Jewish women know, that when one holiday ends…another is sure to come real soon with big festive meals to try to sabotage our diets!!

With that in mind, I must devulge a couple of dark secrets before we are able to have this Sugar Detox relationship. Firstly, you must know that I am not perfect, and it is not my intention for you to believe that I am, further more, I don’t expect you to be perfect either. We all do our best under the circumstances that we are dealt with.

Lets go over my first imperfection- when it is holiday time and I am sharing a fabulous meal with beloved my friends and family, I indulge on sweets that make me feel horrible!

Do I know and fully believe that sugar is toxic? Yes! Do I know and fully believe that I am going to gain unwanted pounds? Yes!…and that I’m going to feel groggy and lethargic the next day? You know my answer! When I feel horrible- my passion for eating healthy gets validated. The trick is to keep those indulgences to a minimum.

Just a few years ago I wasn’t able to last a day without eating sugar. I slowly graduated to keeping sugar free for a week…then a month and so on. I remember feeling ecstatic when a Sugar Free lifestle became “normal” for me, as it will for you too! Even if you are eating sugar all day long- you can change!

As time went on, I kept a sugar free diet for longer and longer periods- but when holidays came along- I indulged again. Looking back on the Passover Feasts, it really wasn’t worth it. Was yours? Chocolate Leaf cookies made out of potatoes are really gross, as are fake brownies, but I ate it anyway. It must be the act of eating with my family around the table for hours that’s appealing to me, because the desserts really aren’t! Anyone with me on this?

My personal goals are to eat cleaner during the Jewish holidays. I just came up with a great idea- lets work on it together! I”m sure there are many Jewish Hostesses who have the same pitfalls as me. Don’t be shy- share your views, we can all help each other.

Lets move on to the topic at hand!

What should you eat on Saris Detox 30 Day Challenge?

Before I spell it out for you- you are going to be so happy to know, that this is going to be the easiest food plan you will ever go on. Its a food plan that your whole family can enjoy. The best part is, everything is natural and focuses on whole foods, which promotes healthy bodies and minds.

I like to break down the sugar detox into two groups, you can decide which group is best for you;

Group A: If you have never done a Sugar Detox before, feel addicted to sugar, or you simply eat sugar or refined white four or rice at most meals. If this is you, then your plan for this month should be simply to avoid eating refined sugars and refined white flour. (check list from yesterdays post for names of sugars)

Group B: If you are used to eating a Sugar Free diet, then this can be your time to try to incorporate organic foods, add more raw veggies, and eat less meat.

Whichever group is for you- everyone can benefit from eating a Sugar Free diet.

Preheat the oven to 250ºF. Heat the oil in a wide frying or saucepan on medium-high heat. Place the flour, salt and pepper into a large plastic bag and shake. Add the kosher chicken breasts three at a time, close the bag and shake to coat. Shake off the excess flour. Add the kosher chicken breasts to the pan and cook 2-3 minutes each side until you see some browned parts. Place into a 9 X 13 oven-proof pan. Cook the rest of the breasts and then place the pan into the oven to keep warm. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook for two minutes, stirring often. Add the wine and thyme and cook for two minutes, until the wine starts to cook down a little and thicken. Add the stock and lemon juice and cook another two to three minutes until the sauce thickens a little. Remove the kosher chicken from the oven and add into the sauce, turning to coat both sides. Add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Place into the oven until serving. About the creator of this Kosher Chicken recipe…Paula Shoyer is one of the leading kosher chefs in the Jewish foodie world. She now teaching classes in French pastry and Jewish cooking and baking to adults and kids, both in the Washington, D.C. area and all around the United States. Buy her new book The Kosher Baker: Over 160 Dairy-free Recipes from Traditional to Trendy (HBI Series on Jewish Women) on Amazon.

Believe it or not Purim is March 20 this year- the clock is ticking!!!

Please send in your inspirations and ideas to share with other Jewish Hostesses!

These pretzels by Shirley are a gorgeous add-in for Mishloach Manot. Just place them in food cello bags from HERE or HEREand tie them with fringe cord ribbons fromHERE. Of course as a second item to include in a gift basket you can simply add a bottle of grape juice or if you want to shmancy it up use a nice bottle of wine.

Shirley actually made these pretzels for an engagement party and when I saw how everyone was grabbing them to take home as a goodie for their kids -(ahem) I knew that I had to get the recipe for my Jewish Hostess readers.

I found these personalizedribbons from HEREto decorate Purim baskets. Just order the ribbons with “Happy Purim! Love the Cohens…” written on them. It takes 2 weeks to order, so do it soon!

“Hi its Shirley from Homebaked…I’d like to share with you one of my most well received recipes, which also happens to be one of the easiest to prepare. People (old and young alike) just go crazy for the salty/crunchy/chocolaty goodness of a chocolate covered pretzel. These little treats are the perfect way to end a meal, and the flavor combinations and toppings for the pretzels are quite limitless. Here I have posted a few of my personal favorite ideas for decorating, however, feel free to get creative…you certainly can’tt go wrong.

What You’ll Need:

Pretzel Rods (If the rods are big, I like to cut them in half with an knife to make a smaller pretzel. )

Melt the chocolate that you will be using to dip the pretzels in the microwave, in 10-second intervals (as to not burn the chocolate).

Transfer the melted chocolate into a deep bowl or cup, and proceed to dip the pretzels into the chocolate, leaving just the tip of the pretzel bare. Shake of any excess chocolate back into the bowl. (If the chocolate seems to be too thick for dipping, simply use a knife to spread it evenly around the pretzel. Don’t worry about imperfections- they’ll be covered up by the sprinkles.)

Immediately roll or sprinkle the pretzel with the desired topping while the chocolate is still melted, and place onto the cookie sheet.

When all of the pretzels have been dipped and decorated, melt some chocolate (of a different shade) in the microwave.

Transfer the melted chocolate into a sturdy ziplock bag and squeeze down until all the chocolate is in one corner of the bag.

With sharp scissors, snip a tiny hole into the corner of the bag, begin to drizzle the chocolate-covered, decorated pretzels that are on the cookie sheet.

The Book of Jewish Food was awarded the 1998 Jewish Quarterly/Wingate Book Prize for Non-Fiction, was the 1998 Glenfiddich Food Book of the Year and the 1997 André Simon Memorial Fund Food Book. (WOW!!!)

Claudia Rodin’s latest book is the award-winning Arabesque: Sumptuous Food from Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon. She is considered to be a leading authority of Sephardic cuisine.

Put all the ingredients except the sugar and the walnuts together in a saucepan and cook on very low heat until the mixture is soft and mushy and the liquid is reduced, stirring occasionally. Add sugar to taste. The amount will depend on the sweetness of the other ingredients. Blend to a paste in the food processor. Pour into a bowl and sprinkle with walnuts.

Haroset from Egypt

1/2 lb (250 g) pitted dates, chopped

1/2 lb (250 g) large yellow raisins or sultanas

1/2 cup (125 ml) sweet red Passover wine

1/2 cup (60 g) walnuts coarsely chopped

Put the dates and sultanas with the wine in a pan. Add just a little water to cover. Cook on very low heat, stirring occasionally, until the dates fall apart into a mush. Cook until it thickens to a soft paste. Pour into a bowl and sprinkle with walnuts.

Haroset from Morocco

1 lb (500 g) dates, pitted and chopped

1-1/2 cups sweet red Passover wine

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup (125 g) walnuts, coarsely chopped

Put the dates into a pan with the wine, cinnamon, and cloves and simmer, stirring occasionally, until you have a soft paste. Put through the food processor if you want a smoother texture. Let it cool and stir in the walnuts.

VARIATION

A Libyan version is flavored with ground ginger, nutmeg, and cloves — 1/4 teaspoon of each.

Haroset from Italy

In Italy there are various regional versions of haroset. The haroset of Padua has prunes, raisins, dates, walnuts, apples, and chestnuts. In Milan they make it with apples, pears, dates, almonds, bananas, and orange juice. The following is a general version.

3 apples, sweet or tart

2 pears

2 cups sweet wine

1/3 cup (50 g) pine nuts

2/3 cup (50 g) ground almonds

1/2 lb (250 g) dates, pitted and chopped

3/4 cup (100 g) yellow raisins or sultanas

4 oz (100 g) prunes, pitted and chopped

1/2 cup (100 g) sugar or honey or to taste

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Peel and core the apples and pears and cut them in small pieces. Put all the ingredients into a pan together and cook, stirring occasionally, for about one hour, until the fruits are very soft, adding a little water if it becomes too dry.

This recipe is adapted from one sent by Nedelia Tedeschi, of Turin. She enclosed a little picture of a squirrel eating a chestnut, from the package of dried chestnuts she uses to make the paste. It was Passover, and the Italian store near my house had closed, so when I phoned around to try to find dried chestnuts and couldn’t, I used cooked vacuum-packed ones instead. The result was very unusual and also delightful.

1/2 lb (250 g) cooked chestnuts

2/3 cup (125 g) blanched almonds

2 hard-boiled egg yolks

Grated zest of 1 orange

Juice of 1 orange

About 3/4 cup (175 ms) sweet red kosher wine

1/3 cup (75 g) sugar or more to taste

Boil the chestnuts for a minute or two, and drain. Grind the almonds fine in the food processor, then add the rest of the ingredients, including the chestnuts, and blend to a paste.

Claudia Roden is one of England’s leading food writers. Her works include the James Beard Award winning The Book of Jewish Food and A Book of Middle Eastern Food.

Which marshmallow recipe would YOU whip up? You can choose all three! (If its a tie, Shirley C. Mamiye from HOMEBAKED will cast her vote) Comment below or on our FACEBOOK PAGE!All voters win a chance at a JEWISH HOSTESS APRON!

Meet Elizabeth Braha, Elizabeth is an emerging talent on the interior design scene. She is a graduate from Parson’s School of design.

Her elegance and fresh approach to style is a breath of fresh air.I’m loving her Tony Duquette inspired Purim table. I’m thinking of buying animal print fabric from HERE to use as a tablecloth or napkins…

Keep an eye out for more of Elizabeth’s posts, as she promised me that she will find the time to inspire us in between the baby feedings….Enjoy! Marlene M.

“More is More” Purim 2011

After a hectic day of carpools and diaper changes, I usually find it calming to set a clean and simple table. I typically use a lot of whites of varying textures, along with stainless steel silverware, always some flowers, and occasionally when the timing is right, candles. This calm setting is perfect during the year, but Purim calls for more fun and pizzaz.

I decided to go on a fantasy shopping spree inspired by one of my favorite designers,Tony Duquette. Duquette was known for his glamorous mix and match approach to decor. Beauty, not luxury was what he valued, designing homes for many of Hollywood’s leading actors, as well as jewelry for royalty and parties for fabulous friends. He fearlessly layered exotic prints with organic textures such as leaves, feathers, bamboo, and branches, and splashed metallic and bold colors into the mix.

While it would be impractical to live so ostentatiously every day, we should all take inspiration from Tony Duquette and use the special day of Purim to rejoice and add some extraordinary splendor to our lives … if only for one night!

Here are some of my favorite picks for your Tony Duquette inspired Purim table this year!

Don’t miss out on Tu B’shvat this year! We traditionally celebrate this day by eating fruits of the seven species from Israel that is praised in the Torah: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranate, olives, and dates. Ancient Sepharadic Jews originated the idea of a Tu B’shvat seder, where participants enjoy munching on a variety of fruits and nuts, drinking wine, and discussing the day’s spiritual and mystical meanings.

Dates are a great Tu B’shvat ingredient for two reasons: first, they are one of the seven species. Second, they are really delicious – available fresh in season and dried year-round, dates are super sweet and almost candy-like. They are great by themselves or added to a variety of sweet or savory dishes.

Almonds, another one of the “Tu B’shvat seven”, are loaded with calcium and protein. Traditional truffles are made of chocolate and heavy cream – yes, they taste great, but they’re far from healthy. This modern spin on truffles are a rich, sweet, and a wonderfully healthy alternative to their chocolatey counterpart. Encourage your kids to try these healthy treats and remind them of the the Tu B’shvat holiday. I will be serving them for Shabbat dessert this week so that we can get a head start on Tu B’shvat, which begins on Thursday, January 20, 2011. Enjoy! Marlene

Kosher Recipe Ingredients

1 cup pitted dried dates

1 cup chopped almonds

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons honey

Unsweetened cocoa powder and/or ground walnuts to coat (optional)

Directions for making this Kosher Recipe

Grind almond in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to a baking sheet and toast in oven for 5 to 7 minutes, until fragrant and slightly darker.

Place the dates, almonds, cocoa powder, and honey in a food processor. Pulse the processor until the mixture comes together to form a ball.

Form cherry-sized balls out of the mixture and roll them in cocoa powder , ground almonds, or coconut to coat. Enjoy them right away or store them in the fridge for later!

“For my best friends birthday, I went all out in MY favorite color with my pink placemats, drinking glasses and my rhinestone glitzy bow napkin rings wrapped in not one- but two napkins. I folded both a white and a pink napkin together to get that perfect shape to fit beautifully into my bows. For her special day , I served spaggheti squash baked ziti, a big hearty salad (every girls favorite) , artichoke bottoms, bruchetta, parmesan truffle french fries and last noodles with pesto. A deliciouse meal brings a smile to everyone